Birds and Angels: Messing With English Names
The stated purpose of the newly-released Birds of the world: recommended English names, authored by Frank Gill and Mintern Wright on behalf of the International Ornithological Congress (IOC), is to standardize the recommended English names of every extant bird species in the world. In the introduction, Gill and Wright outline the seven organizing principals and four procedures agreed to by IOC's international committee of experts selected to work on this daunting task. They then describe the 10 basic rules that governed the committee's "selection and spelling of names." They also outline the nine rules used to address "problems of spelling," followed by more detailed discussions of five major issues that had to be addressed: (1) capitalization, (2) patronyms and accents, (3) British versus American spellings, (4) geographical nouns versus adjectives, and (5) compound names.
This volume has already been the subject of a detailed review by Rick Wright of Aimophila Adventures. My purpose here is to simply compare the IOC's recommended names for species that occur in the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), with those currently recognized by the AOU Check-list (as revised). I've found 121 species for which the respective names differ. In the following list, AOU-recognized names are followed by the IOC's recommended names (with new names bolded and introduced species indicated with asterisks):
(A) Delete hyphen from common group name (51 species) - Personally, I see nothing wrong with hyphenated group names, and find this to be the most confusing of the changes adopted by the IOC. My biggest problem is with the change of Storm-Petrel to Storm Petrel, resulting in all of the Storm Petrels of the family Hydrobatidae being lumped with the Petrels of the family Procellariidae. If the group name for the Prairie-Chickens is now Prairie Chicken, why is the group name for the Storm-Petrels not Storm Petrel; or, alternatively, why not spell the group name as Storm-petrel (in accordance with rule 5.B.4), the lowercase letter after the hyphen indicating that they are not members of the Petrel family:
Ultimately, the sucess of this 15-year effort by the IOC will be measured by the willingness of birders, checklist committees, conservation biologists, conservation organizations, government agencies, government officials, ornithologists, philanthropists, and publishers—all of whom are recognized as “stakeholders”—to endorse and adopt the many recommended name changes; and that may be a hard sell. It will be especially interesting to follow the responses of the AOU and the American Birding Association to these recommended name changes.
This volume has already been the subject of a detailed review by Rick Wright of Aimophila Adventures. My purpose here is to simply compare the IOC's recommended names for species that occur in the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), with those currently recognized by the AOU Check-list (as revised). I've found 121 species for which the respective names differ. In the following list, AOU-recognized names are followed by the IOC's recommended names (with new names bolded and introduced species indicated with asterisks):
(A) Delete hyphen from common group name (51 species) - Personally, I see nothing wrong with hyphenated group names, and find this to be the most confusing of the changes adopted by the IOC. My biggest problem is with the change of Storm-Petrel to Storm Petrel, resulting in all of the Storm Petrels of the family Hydrobatidae being lumped with the Petrels of the family Procellariidae. If the group name for the Prairie-Chickens is now Prairie Chicken, why is the group name for the Storm-Petrels not Storm Petrel; or, alternatively, why not spell the group name as Storm-petrel (in accordance with rule 5.B.4), the lowercase letter after the hyphen indicating that they are not members of the Petrel family:
(B) Add hyphen to group name (1 species) - Given the desire of the IOC committee to minimize the use of hyphens in group names, it's unclear to me why this change was deemed necessary:Beardless-Tyrannulet, Northern = Northern Beardless Tyrannulet Black-Hawk, Common = Common Black Hawk Collared-Dove, Eurasian = Eurasian Collared Dove* Forest-Falcon, Collared = Collared Forest Falcon Golden-Plover, American = American Golden Plover Golden-Plover, Pacific = Pacific Golden Plover Grasshopper-Warbler, Middendorff’s = Middendorff’s Grasshopper Warbler Ground-Dove, Common = Common Ground Dove Ground-Dove, Ruddy = Ruddy Ground Dove House-Martin, Common = Common House Martin Lizard-Cuckoo, Puerto Rican = Puerto Rican Lizard Cuckoo Night-Heron, Black-crowned = Black-crowned Night Heron Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned = Yellow-crowned Night Heron Palm-Swift, Antillean = Antillean Palm Swift Pond-Heron, Chinese = Chinese Pond Heron Prairie-Chicken, Greater = Greater Prairie Chicken Prairie-Chicken, Lesser = Lesser Prairie Chicken Pygmy-Owl, Ferruginous = Ferruginous Pygmy Owl Pygmy-Owl, Northern = Northern Pygmy Owl Reef-Heron, Western = Western Reef Heron Rosy-Finch, Black = Black Rosy Finch Rosy-Finch, Brown-capped = Brown-capped Rosy Finch Rosy-Finch, Gray-crowned = Gray-crowned Rosy Finch Sage-Grouse, Greater = Sage Grouse Sand-Plover, Greater = Greater Sand Plover Sand-Plover, Lesser = Lesser Sand Plover Scops-Owl, Oriental = Oriental Scops Owl Screech-Owl, Eastern = Eastern Screech Owl Screech-Owl, Puerto Rican = Puerto Rican Screech Owl Screech-Owl, Western = Western Screech Owl Screech-Owl, Whiskered = Whiskered Screech Owl Scrub-Jay, Florida = Florida Scrub Jay Scrub-Jay, Island = Islands Scrub Jay Scrub-Jay, Western = Western Scrub Jay Sea-Eagle, Steller’s = Steller’s Sea Eagle Storm-Petrel, Ashy = Ashy Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Band-rumped = Band-rumped Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Black = Black Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Black-bellied = Black-bellied Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Fork-tailed = Fork-tailed Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Leach’s = Leach’s Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Least = Least Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Matsudaira’s = Matsudaira’s Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Tristram’s = Tristram’s Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Wedge-rumped = Wedge-rumped Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, White-faced = White-faced Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, White-bellied = White-bellied Storm Petrel Storm-Petrel, Wilson’s = Wilson’s Storm Petrel Turtle-Dove, Oriental = Oriental Turtle Dove Whistling-Duck, Black-bellied = Black-bellied Whistling Duck Whistling-Duck, Fulvous = Fulvous Whistling Duck Whistling-Duck, West Indian = West Indian Whistling Duck
(C) Add modifier (13 species) - I doubt that U.S. birders will be quick to adopt such lengthy appelations as American White Ibis, American Cliff Swallow, and American Yellow Warbler:Cordonbleu, Red-cheeked = Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu*
(D) Delete all or part of modifier (4 species) - The latter two recommendations will no doubt be welcome news to U.S. birders, and the AOU would be well-advised to adopt them quickly:Bunting, Pallas’s = Pallas’s Reed Bunting Bunting, Reed = Common Reed Bunting Bushtit = American Bushtit Caracara, Crested = Northern Crested Caracara Duck, Spot-billed = Indian Spot-billed Duck Flycatcher, Tufted = Northern Tufted Flycatcher Grosbeak, Yellow = Mexican Yellow Grosbeak Gull, Black-headed = Common Black-headed Gull Ibis, White = American White Ibis Stonechat = Eurasian Stonechat Swallow, Cliff = American Cliff Swallow Swift, Black = American Black Swift Warbler, Yellow = American Yellow Warbler
(E) Change modifer (27 species) - Perhaps the strangest of the recommendations coming from the IOC is the "executive decision" to rename the White Tern on grounds that it is a "truly bland generic name . . . for one of the world's most endearing seabirds." So now we have Angel Tern, a so-called "improvement" that I find no more descriptive of the species than White Tern:Curlew, Far Eastern = Eastern Curlew Pauraque, Common = Pauraque Sparrow, Nelson’s Sharp-tailed = Nelson’s Sparrow Sparrow, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed = Saltmarsh Sparrow
(F) Change group name and modifier (8 species) - Will we ever find a universally agreed-upon name for the Hawk Owl? Roughleg certainly rolls off the tongue more easily than Rouch-legged Hawk (and will probably be endorsed by hawkwatchers), but seems pretty radical to me. I would hate to lose such a colorful name as Gray Frog-Hawk. And Sand Martin for Bank Swallow? I'm not sure than any of these recommendations will be endorsed anytime soon by American birders:Bishop, Orange = Northern Red Bishop* Crossbill, White-winged = Two-barred Crossbill Flamingo, Greater = American Flamingo Grebe, Eared = Black-necked Grebe Greenfinch, Oriental = Grey-faced Greenfinch Gull, Belcher’s = Band-tailed Gull Hawk, Gray = Gray-lined Hawk Kestrel, Eurasian = Common Kestrel Loon, Arctic = Black-throated Loon Loon, Common = Great Northern Loon Munia, Tricolored = Black-headed Munia* Noddy, Blue-gray = Blue Noddy Peafowl, Common = Indian Peafowl* Pheasant, Ring-necked = Common Pheasant* Pigeon, Rock = Common Pigeon* Pipit, American = Buff-bellied Pipit Plover, Black-bellied = Gray Plover Raven, Common = Northern Raven Redpoll, Hoary = Arctic Redpoll Scoter, Black = American Scoter Shearwater, Greater = Great Shearwater Shrike, Northern = Great Gray Shrike Tern, Gray-backed = Spectacled Tern Tern, Great Crested = Swift Tern Tern, White = Angel Tern Warbler, Elfin-woods = Elfin Woods Warbler Warbler, Golden-crowned = Stripe-crowned Warbler
(G) Change group name (11 species):Dovekie = Little Auk Frog-Hawk, Gray = Chinese Sparrowhawk Goose, Hawaiian = Nene Hawk, Rough-legged = Roughleg Lark, Sky = Eurasian Skylark Mannikin, Bronze = Scaly-breasted Munia* Owl, Northern Hawk = Northern Hawk-Owl Swallow, Bank = Sand Martin
(H) AOU species not recognized (2 species) - The cut-off date for accepting newly-recognized species to the IOC list was December 31, 2004, so expect to see these species recognized in the next addition:Brant = Brant Goose Chukar = Chukar Partridge* Cormorant, Pelagic = Pelagic Shag Cormorant, Red-faced = Red-faced Shag Duck, Falcated = Falcated Teal Hummingbird, Blue-throated = Blue-throated Mountaingem Hummingbird, Lucifer = Lucifer Sheartail Jaeger, Pomarine = Pomarine Skua Parrot, Red-crowned = Red-crowned Amazon Petrel, Bermuda = Cahow Redstart, Painted = Painted Whitestart Robin, Clay-colored = Clay-colored Thrush
(I) New species recognized (3 species) - Surprisingly (to me, at least) Mexican Duck is resurrected as a full species! Also, given that Northern Pygmy-Owl and Brewer's Sparrow are confined to North America, I'm puzzled as to why the IOC committee would adopt changes that have not yet been endorsed by the AOU Check-list Committee:Grouse, Dusky = Blue Grouse (part) Grouse, Sooty = Blue Grouse (part)
(J) British versus American spelling (~25 species) - The IOC recommends the use of Grey over Gray "because far more taxa have traditionally used that spelling." This would affect about 25 species in the U.S., including such common species as Gray Flycatcher, Gray Kingbird, Gray Vireo, Gray Jay, and Gray Catbird. Fortunately, North Americans won't be placed in a position of having to make that hard choice, as "The committee decided to encourage each author and publisher to select whatever spelling of these words [Grey versus Gray] is deemed appropriate (since that would undoubtedly happen anyway)." Thank goodness!Mallard (part) = Mexican Duck Pygmy-Owl, Northern (part) = Mountain Pygmy Owl Sparrow, Brewer's (part) = Timberline Sparrow
Ultimately, the sucess of this 15-year effort by the IOC will be measured by the willingness of birders, checklist committees, conservation biologists, conservation organizations, government agencies, government officials, ornithologists, philanthropists, and publishers—all of whom are recognized as “stakeholders”—to endorse and adopt the many recommended name changes; and that may be a hard sell. It will be especially interesting to follow the responses of the AOU and the American Birding Association to these recommended name changes.
posted by John L. Trapp at
8/30/2006 03:32:00 PM
6 Comments:
My favorites of the moment are the "Ground Cuckoos," "Ground Doves," etc., names apparently modeled on "Ground Beef."
Thanks for the careful collation!
Rick Wright
www.birdaz.com
That's a wonderful analogy, Rick. I just added two species that I missed the first time around: Eurasian Collared Dove (nee Collared-Dove) and Red-crowned Amazon (nee Parrot).
The hyphen in words like "Night-Heron" and "Beardless-Tyrannulet" is incorrect in standard English punctuation. "Night" and "Beardless" are adjectives modifying the simple nouns "Heron" and "Tyrannulet." It is a Heron of the Night, it is not a compound creature that is half Heron and half Night. So the hyphen belongs in "Tit-Babbler" but not in "Scrub-Jay." The hyphen in "Red-headed" does belong there, because here it is functioning as a compound adjective and makes it clear that we are talking about a wodpecker with a red head, not a red woodpecker with a head ("Red-headed Woodpecker" versus "Red Headed Woodpecker," i.e. "Red, Headed, Woodpecker." This is the difference between a Great-crested Grebe and a Great Crested Grebe.
At least this is the argument based on standard useage...
It could be gotten around by compounding the noun German-style: Nightheron, Grounddove; but not Beardlesstyrannulet, please!
Is there any explanation for the added modifiers in (C)? Are they getting split from other populations elsewhere?
I also find some decisions in (E) rather strange, since they go from a descriptive or colorful name to a prosaic one, like Black Scoter -> American Scoter. Those sort of changes are going to take a long time to sink in.
John said, Is there any explanation for the added modifiers in (C)? Are they getting split from other populations elsewhere?
In a word, no. In most cases, these modifiers are needed to distinguish between two or more species with the same or similar names. For example, to distinguish our White Ibis from the Australian White Ibis; our Cliff Swallow from the Red Sea, Red-throated, and South African cliff swallows; our and Yellow Warbler from the Dark-capped, Mountain, and Papyrus yellow warblers (all Old World warblers); at least that's the explanation given in Gill and Wright (2006).
I also find some decisions in (E) rather strange, since they go from a descriptive or colorful name to a prosaic one, like Black Scoter -> American Scoter.
In the specific case of Black Scoter, this represents the elevation of the American race to a full species (americana, with the English name of merican Scoter). The Eurasian race (now species, deglandi), meanwhile, retains the English name of Black Scoter.
Poetry has never seemed to matter much before. Most of us old farts are still smarting a little over losing our Louisiana Heron, though we did get our Baltimore Oriole back at least. This'll be our third name for that scoter, having already gone from Common Scoter to Black Scoter. Remember the Common Great American Bicentennial Egret, from back in the days that it felt like the English name for that bird was in a constant state of flux? The American Buff-bellied Water Pipit is getting as bad, if not worse; but at least that one is motivated in part by confusing taxonomy, not just arbitrary tweeks.
Now that Americans are more familiar with the rude connotations of "Shag," I can't imagine we'll ever give up our Cormorants. At least we're past the days of risking the surrender of our Loons to the terribly prosaic "Diver" monicker. Now if we can only find some reason to split the old- and new-world Podiceps nigricollis before we lose our Eared Grebes.
Hooray for their showing sense on the Sharp-tailed Sparrows, though! If the AOU only takes two of these suggestions, those should be it.
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